Activities of Eugenia RODRÍGUEZ PALOP related to 2019/2169(INI)
Opinions (1)
OPINION on the EU Strategy for Gender Equality
Amendments (43)
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas current gender equality policies have not been able to tackle discrimination against women, not only because of the maintenance of deeply rooted gender stereotypes within our societies, but also because of the undermining of social and economic rights that disproportionately affects women, particularly those subjected to multiple forms of discrimination, who are more likely at risk of poverty and social exclusion than men;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Recital A o (new)
Recital A o (new)
Ao. whereas there is a visible backlash in some Member States, including within the areas of economic empowerment of women, and there is a risk that gender equality could further slip down the agenda of Member States;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Recital A p (new)
Recital A p (new)
Ap. whereas the Covid-19 crisis disproportionately affects women in the socioeconomic sphere, considering that they have lower salaries, savings and pensions, suffer higher rates of unconventional and precarious forms of work and poverty, lack equal access to social protection, are more at risk of being laid off or given shorter hours as a result of the crisis, and face increased and specific burdens in situations of lock down as a result of the discriminatory allocation of unpaid domestic and care work;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Recital A q (new)
Recital A q (new)
Aq. whereas women are leading the provision of care and support to protect society in the current Covid-19 crisis, and are at the same time more exposed to the risk of contamination due to their overrepresentation in essential and more exposed professions[1], such as nurses and other health professionals, pharmacy workers, super market cashiers, elderly care workers and cleaners1a; __________________ 1a According to Eurostat, 78% of all healthcare workers, including 4.1million low-paid and highly exposed personal carers, are women: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/product s-eurostat-news/-/DDN-20200409-2
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Recital A r (new)
Recital A r (new)
Ar. whereas the Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 and the strengthening of gender-sensitive policies at the EU level are essential to ensure that the impact of the Covid-19 crisis does not widen gender inequality and that the responses contribute to reduce discrimination against women;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 e (new)
Paragraph -1 e (new)
-1e. Welcomes the Commission’s evaluation of the existing framework on equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, the launching of a consultation process on how to improve gender equality in the world of work, the forthcoming Pension Adequacy Report, and the consideration of the provision of pension credits for care-related career breaks in occupational pension schemes;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Urges the Commission to consider a definition of work of ‘equal value’ based on the case-law of the Court of Justice and that includes references to part-time work and the balance between formal professional qualifications and the tasks actually performed, and that places the burden of the proof in the employer or the party claiming that professional experience is a relevant factor to perform the job;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Recalls European Parliament resolution of 30 January 2020 on the gender pay gap and urges the Commission to propose a new EU Action Plan to tackle the gender pay gap, with clear targets for the Member States and an intersectional perspective, to pay attention to the factors leading to the pension gap, and to assess the need for specific measures to reduce this gap going beyond the possible provision of pension credits for both women and men;
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Acknowledges the influence of socially responsible public procurement to support gender equality at work, the increased participation of women in the labour market and the reconciliation of work and private life; calls on the Commission to monitor the compliance of equal pay between women and men as part of all public procurement contracts in the EU, and to use gender-sensitive public procurement as a new strategic procurement approach, adopting guidelines and offering technical support for Member States and public authorities;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Reiterates its call on the Commission to present a legal instrument on gender pay transparency as soon as possible; 1b; regrets the absence of a concrete timeframe to propose such an instrument and highlights that the current crisis makes it even more urgent for the Commission to meet its commitment to table a proposal by the end of 2020 at the latest; believes that women should not pay the price for the Covid-19 crisis; __________________ 1b European Parliament resolution of 30 January 2020 on the gender pay gap.
Amendment 104 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the feminisation of poverty in all its forms, particularly by factoring gender into pension entitlements in order to eliminate the gender pension gap, and by improving working conditions, including pay, in feminised sectors; points out the importance of addressing the cultural undervaluation of jobs dominated by women and the overrepresentation of women in atypical forms of work; emphasises the need to strengthen collective bargaining in order to foster stable and quality employment, including pay;
Amendment 105 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Notes that the growing gig economy has implications for workers, who are less unionised and risk job precariousness due to factors such as unstable working hours and income, lack of coverage of employment rights, uncertainty around social security and pensions, or lack of access to career development and retraining; is concerned that the insecurity and precariousness associated to it, aggravated by the confinement imposed by the current crisis, has a particularly negative impact on women who still carry the burden of care in a highly gendered labour market, especially those who are experiencing intersecting forms of discrimination; calls on the Member States to implement targeted social protection measures for women freelancers and women employed in the gig economy, calls on the Commission to closely monitor the implementation of Directive 2010/41/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2010 on the application of the principle of equal treatment between men and women engaged in an activity in a self-employed capacity;
Amendment 106 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Recalls the European Parliament resolution of 10 October 2019 on employment and social policies of the euro area and the commitment taken on by the Commission in the communication “A Union that strives for more” (Commission Work Programme 2020) to improve the labour conditions for platform workers, and urges for a coordinated EU initiative to ensure that platform workers have access to social protection and are guaranteed all their social and labour rights, calling on the Commission to prepare, following the Platform Work Summit announced for the third semester of this year, a legislative proposal regarding platform workers, ensuring that gender equality is incorporated in any legal framework regarding them; urges the Commission to introduce an exemption for these workers from the EU’s competition rules in order to allow them to engage in collective bargaining without being considered as a cartel;
Amendment 126 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to put forward a Care Deal for Europe to cover all care needs throughout the lifecycle; calls on the Member States to ratify ILO Convention No 189 on domestic workers and to fully implement and go beyond the Barcelona care targets, ensuring the coverage of those needs through quality universal public care services; urges Member States to fully implement the Work-Life Balance Directive1 and invites them to go beyond the Directive’s minimum standards, particularly with regards to pay; __________________ 1 OJ L 188, 12.7.2019, p. 79.
Amendment 129 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Urges the Commission to monitor and report annually on the implementation of the Work Life Balance Directive, and calls on the Member States to raise the standards with such measures as full-paid leaves, coverage for all workers regardless of their employment status or type of employment or tackling gender stereotypes in take-up of paternity/maternity leaves amongst others, paying special attention to lone-parent households; calls also on the European Union, the Member States and the social partners to promote the collective reduction of working time for all to contribute to the achievement of work life balance and the reduction of unemployment;
Amendment 130 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Amendment 135 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Reiterates its call on the Commission and the Member States regarding European Parliament resolution of 28 April 2016 on women domestic workers and carers in the EU; urges the Commission to introduce a framework for the professionalisation of domestic work and care, leading to the recognition and standardisation of the relevant professions and skills and career building, and to encourage the Member States to establish systems for professionalisation, training, continuous skills development and recognition of women domestic and care workers’ qualifications and to create public employment agencies to strengthen the professionalisation;
Amendment 136 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4d. Calls on the Commission to revise Directive 92/85/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health at work of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding, to ensure that women throughout Europe can benefit on an equal footing with men from the free movement of workers1c; __________________ 1c Directive 2014/54/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on measures facilitating the exercise of rights conferred on workers in the context of freedom of movement for workers.
Amendment 138 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)
Paragraph 4 e (new)
4e. Draws attention to the lack of gender perspective in the field of health and safety at work, and urges the Commission, the Member States and the Social Partners to cover as occupational diseases and work-related illnesses those maladies/pathologies that are not yet recognised as such, particularly in feminised jobs; to mainstream gender equality in health and safety in masculinized jobs, where there are still many gaps, including in relation to sanitary installations, work equipment, personal clothing protective equipment and any other regarding the working environment; to ensure maternity protection and safety at the workplace and return to work measures after maternity leave; to evaluate labour risks in feminized sectors, including homes when dealing with domestic work and care;
Amendment 139 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 f (new)
Paragraph 4 f (new)
4f. Noting the impact of the COVID- 19 crisis, calls on the Commission, the Member States and the Social Partners to urgently develop those gender sensitive health and safety measures, specifically targeted to frontline professions that are overrepresented by women such as health professionals, pharmacy workers, supermarket cashiers, teachers, childcare workers, elderly care workers and cleaners;
Amendment 145 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Is deeply worried about violence and harassment in the world of work and the impact of all forms of violence against women and girls in it; calls on the Commission to propose a directive onwith a holistic approach to combatting violence against women; calls on Member States to ratify and implement the Istanbul Convention and ILO Convention No 190 on violence and harassment; on preventing and combatting all forms of violence against women; and to enhance current EU legislation to prevent sexual harassment in light of the provisions of the ILO Convention No 190 on violence and harassment and the Istanbul Convention; calls on Member States to ratify and implement both;
Amendment 157 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Believes that women workers suffering gender violence should be entitled to specific employment rights and social security benefits such as the reduction or reorganisation of their working hours, change of workplace and temporary protection against dismissal; considers that gender-based violence should be included in the workplace risk assessments;
Amendment 161 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Regrets the lack of reference s to the gender dimension of trafficking for purposes of labour exploitation, especially in the case of domestic workers due to the limitation that the family home presents as a workplace with respect to the possibilities of inspection and control of work activity; recalls European Parliament resolution of 28 April 2016 on women domestic workers and carers in the EU and asks the Commission and the Member States to promote the investigation of these cases, to improve the mechanism of identification and protection of the victims and to involve NGOs, trade unions, public authorities and all citizens in the detection process;
Amendment 163 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Recalls the European Parliament resolution of 12 February 2019 on the implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in the EU institutional framework; urges the European Union to accede to the European Social Charter (Revised) and calls on the Commission to propose a timeframe for its implementation taking into account the gender dimension of economic and social rights; calls on all Member States to ratify the revised Charter;
Amendment 164 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5d. Calls on the Commission to present a European Strategy on Social Protection to address the free movement of workers and in particular the feminisation of poverty, with a special focus on lone-parent households headed by women;
Amendment 165 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 e (new)
Paragraph 5 e (new)
5e. Welcomes the Commission’s proposal for a Child Guarantee but, acknowledging the gendered dimension of child poverty, asks for additional measures and funds to suitably address the obstacles leading to women’s poverty, including a guarantee of a decent income for all by presenting a European framework directive on minimum income, and access to housing through a European Housing Strategy that recognizes women’s greater difficulties;
Amendment 166 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 f (new)
Paragraph 5 f (new)
5f. Regrets the lack of reference in the Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025 to the protection of women and girls at risk of social exclusion, poverty and homelessness, calling on the Commission to address those issues in the forthcoming Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion to prevent these women from being excluded from social and economic policies and further deepening the poverty cycle;
Amendment 176 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Acknowledging the need for a transition to a fair, climate-neutral, digital Europe, calls on the Commission to adopt measures to increase the participation of women in the digital and in the green sector, to include women in decision- making positions at all levels, and to adopt policies that ensure equal pay, a living wage, personal development and adequate social protection; urges the Commission to ensure that any measure regarding the improvement of women’s participation in these sectors is in line with the Work Life Balance Directive, and that it addresses sexual harassment in the workplace in light of the provisions of the ILO Convention and the Istanbul Convention;
Amendment 189 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Stresses the need for gender mainstreaming in employment policies related to sustainability and just transition, ensuring gender impact assessment of funding mechanisms to tackle the climate crisis so that they play a strong role in transforming gender norms and furthering gender equality; calls on the Commission and the Council to implement gender budgeting to climate- related funds such as the Just Transition Fund, ensuring that financial choices to support workers and companies don’t exacerbate inequalities and that they integrate a gender perspective;
Amendment 199 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Calls on the Commission to lay down explicit guidelines on the implementation of the intersectional framework, which should prioritize the participation of the groups affected by the intersecting forms of discrimination to assess the differential impact of policies and actions in order to tailor responses in each subject that are grounded on the principles of non-discrimination;
Amendment 200 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 d (new)
Paragraph 6 d (new)
6d. Recalls European Parliament resolution of 12 February 2019 on the need for a strengthenedpost-2020 Strategic EU Framework for National Roma Inclusion Strategies, which states that in most Member States no improvement was observed in access to employment, that there are serious concerns relating to housing and little progress regarding poverty, and a need for a strong gender dimension in the EU framework; is concerned about hate speech against Roma in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the additional restrictions introduced by some Member States to put Roma communities under quarantine and fears the negative consequences on the most vulnerable groups among Roma, such as girls, young women, older women, people with disabilities or LGBTIQ+; urges the Commission to adopt as soon as possible the EU strategic framework on Roma equality and inclusion, to analyse the impact that coronavirus is having on Roma and to adopt measures to avoid backlashes;
Amendment 201 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 e (new)
Paragraph 6 e (new)
6e. Is concerned about the lack of an explicit prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of a person’s gender identity and gender expression in EU law; notes the persistence of discrimination, harassment and exclusion from the labour market of LGBTIQ+ people; recalls European Parliament resolution of 14 February 2019 on the future of the LGBTI List of Actions and the European Parliament resolution of 18 December 2019 on public discrimination and hate speech against LGBTI people; calls on the Commission to adopt as soon as possible the strategic framework on LGBTIQ+ equality to follow up on the EU Commission’s LGBTI List of Actions2016-2019, and to include specific measures to tackle discrimination at work on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics;
Amendment 202 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 f (new)
Paragraph 6 f (new)
6f. Recalls the European Parliament resolution of 29 November 2018 on the situation of women with disabilities; urges the Commission to put forward a consolidated proposal within the post- 2020 Strategy that includes the development of positive actions targeting women with disabilities in order to promote employment, training, job placements, equal career paths, equal pay, adaptation in the workplace and further education, paying attention to their digital inclusion and the need to safeguard work- life balance; also stresses the need for a Disability Rights Guarantee with specific measures that address the needs of women with disabilities;
Amendment 208 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 k (new)
Paragraph 6 k (new)
6k. Welcomes the Commission proposal to use the Asylum and Migration Fund to encourage Member States’ actions to support the integration of women, but regrets that no other concrete measures are considered to tackle the lower rates of employment in the EU for third country national women and the specific vulnerability of refugee, asylum seeking and undocumented women and girls; calls on the Commission to address the situation of all migrant women and girls, prioritising the integration objective of the Fund in the next Multiannual Financial Framework through gender budgeting, the allocation of increased resources for upskilling, retraining for transition to good quality employment and working conditions, and increasing their participation in the labour market and adopting more concrete measures to overcome the obstacles faced by migrant women;
Amendment 211 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 n (new)
Paragraph 6 n (new)
6n. Notes that significant gender differences within agricultural employment persist since female rates of unemployment and informality are higher, rural women are more affected by the care gap and they experience more difficulties to have ownership and control of land and other productive resources; welcomes the Commission’s call to invest in basic services’ development in rural areas and urges a gender budgeting approach to the CAP and to also identify funding opportunities under the second pillar of the CAP to increase women’s access to land and to address their working conditions in rural areas, especially those of seasonal workers;
Amendment 212 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 o (new)
Paragraph 6 o (new)
6o. Reiterates its calls to further improve the collection of gender- disaggregated data1d in areas such as informal employment, entrepreneurship, access to financing and to healthcare services, unpaid work, poverty and impact of social protection systems; also urges the EU to work on and incorporate new indicators, such as in-work poverty, time- poverty, gaps in time use, the value of care work (paid/unpaid), and the take-up rates of women and men in relation to the work-life balance directive; __________________ 1d European Parliament resolution of 30 January 2020 on the gender pay gap.
Amendment 214 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 r (new)
Paragraph 6 r (new)
6r. Regrets the considerable imbalance between women and men in economic decision-making at the highest level; welcomes the Commission's proposal to push for the adoption of the 2012 proposal for a Directive on gender balance among non-executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges (the so-called Women on Boards Directive) that is blocked in the Council; calls on the Commission and the Council to consider going beyond, including additional measures such as applying the 40% quota to both non-executive and executive boards and to include medium-sized companies in the scope of the directive;
Amendment 216 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 t (new)
Paragraph 6 t (new)
6t. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to urgently adopt a gender-sensitive response to the social and economic crisis of COVID-19, including the adoption of specific recovery measures for women, in order to mitigate its disproportionate and long- lasting impact on women's rights, incomes and social protection as well as to prevent further inequalities and discriminations in the world of work; calls on the Commission and the Member States to use this Gender Equality Strategy as an engine to drive the post COVID period;
Amendment 217 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 u (new)
Paragraph 6 u (new)
6u. Welcomes the instrument for temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE); calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that SURE addresses the loss in income, social protection and pension entitlements for women as a result of the care burden and unequal employment and working conditions; calls for reduced weekly working hours without any loss of pay for women who are caregivers or working parents with child responsibilities at home;
Amendment 218 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 v (new)
Paragraph 6 v (new)
6v. Calls on the Member States to extend the duration periods for receiving unemployment benefits until full economic recovery has been achieved;
Amendment 219 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 w (new)
Paragraph 6 w (new)
6w. Welcomes the Council decision to activate the 'general escape clause' and calls on Member States to invest in public services, including free child and health care, in order to create new quality jobs and to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the crisis; considers that austerity measures have long-term detrimental consequences, particularly on women, and must not be enforced in the post COVID-19 crisis;
Amendment 220 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 x (new)
Paragraph 6 x (new)
6x. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to promote social dialogue and collective bargaining in the response to the COVID-19 crisis as well as to ensure that the social partners are fully involved in the design and the implementation of the measures taken; considers that social dialogue, including collective bargaining, will help ensure a gender equal and democratic recovery where ‘no one is left behind’; calls on developing civil dialogue with civil society organisations, in conformity with participatory democracy and the citizens' initiative (Article 11 TEU);
Amendment 221 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 y (new)
Paragraph 6 y (new)
6y. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to recognize COVID-19 as an occupational disease; calls on the Commission to revise its Commission Recommendation (2003/670/EC) concerning the European schedule of occupational diseases to specifically include COVID-19 as applying to all workers who are currently disproportionately exposed to infection;